FORT FRANCES—Due to the effects of low over-winter precipitation, the west end of Rainy River District has been left in dry condition, which becomes a concern heading into the fire season that officially begins Sunday (April 1).
Harrold Boven, fire management supervisor with the Ministry of Natural Resources in Fort Frances, spoke to district fire chiefs Thursday night to keep them aware of the situation.
“There was about nine different peat fires in the west end of the district over [the] winter,” Boven noted.
“And coming into the spring, municipalities, land owners, and MNR have taken action on those fires to prevent spread in the grass once the snow goes,” he added.
But Boven wants to ensure district residents are checking with their chief fire official and municipality before doing any burning.
“Moisture levels are low and there is concern for a quicker high hazard, high extreme fire hazard, going into the spring,” he explained, adding they are recommending no burning on peat soils.
With hardly any snowfall over the winter, Boven said the deeper fuels are drier than normal, which is going to have an impact on forestry operations as we get into the spring.
“A higher to extreme fire hazard is anticipated earlier in the spring,” Boven stressed. “If we get rain, it could level off, but right now we don’t know that.”
He said he just asks residents to be extremely careful.
“Stay away from peat fuels because that could have a lingering effect going into the summer, which becomes a problem in late summer again,” he remarked.
There are lots of pockets of peat in the west end of the district, noted Boven, and if you burn on it, it could start to burn again—even if you think everything is fine.
Fort Frances Fire Chief Gerry Armstrong echoed the message that residents must check with the fire chief in their municipality before doing any burning.
“People rely on the MNR through the fire season when it comes to outdoor burning, but really they need to start relying on their municipalities,” he explained.
“Their fire chief has a lot of responsibility as far as outdoor burning.
“Whether it’s in a brushland area or not, if it’s in the municipality, it’s the fire chief’s responsibility,” Chief Armstrong stressed.
He noted since the district borders wildland areas, local fire chiefs and the MNR will make a collaborate effort to ensure they cover each other.
And since there are two different provincial legislations (the municipal fire service deals with the Fire Protection and Prevention Act while the MNR takes care of the Forest Fire Prevention Act), the two groups have to work together.
The MNR is looking at two different areas in the district—the bush conditions and the agricultural area conditions.
“There are two distinct areas here—forested and grassland,” noted Boven. “The first concern is usually the grassland in the spring, then as that greens up, then we shift more emphasis to the bush conditions.”
Boven said he can’t recall a year as dry as this since the spring of 1987 and the fall of 1988.
“I think there was 30-plus fires out in the western portion in April,” he remarked.
And since he doesn’t want to see that happen this year, Boven stressed there should be no burning in a municipality unless there is approval.
“Anyone who is burning larger than one hectare needs to have a burn plan approved by a chief fire official,” he added.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
